How to Get the Best Audio and Video Quality on Zoom

If you’re hosting a webinar on Zoom, you would want to have the best possible quality audio and video. However, Zoom purposely reduces sound bitrate and video resolution to save on server resources.

Here’s what you can do to ensure you broadcast your stream at the best possible audio and video quality.

Use Zoom’s Original Sound Feature

When you’re in a Zoom meeting and look in the upper right corner, you will probably see an icon that says Original Sound: Off. Click on this icon to improve your sound, if you can see it. But if you don’t have it, you have to activate it first in Zoom’s settings.

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But what does Original Sound do?

Convert Your Sound From Mono to Stereo

By default, Zoom reduces your sound quality to mono and reduces its bandwidth to help systems with slower internet speeds cope better with Zoom’s demand. However, this comes at the price of reduced audio quality.

While the people in your Zoom meeting can still understand you, your sound quality distinctly falls, making you sound like you’re in a video call. If you want your audio quality to come out like you’re in a YouTube video or a professional broadcast, you should turn Original Sound on.

Doing so would convert your audio stream from mono to stereo, allowing your viewers and listeners to hear the variations in your sound as you move around your space. It also triples the allocated bandwidth for your audio, literally giving you three times better audio quality.

How to Turn On Original Sound

If you don’t see the Original Sound feature when you’re in a call, you must first activate it in Zoom’s settings.

1. Go to Audio settings.

If you’re in Zoom’s main menu…

1. Click on the Settings icon under your profile photo in the app’s upper-right corner.
2. In the Settings window, go to the Audio menu.

If you’re in a Zoom call…

1. Click on the caret beside the Mute icon at the lower-left corner of the call window.
2. Select Audio settings… from the context menu.

Once you’re in the audio settings menu…

1. Under Audio Settings, scroll down to Music and Professional Audio.
2. Tick all the boxes under this option, ensuring that Show in-meeting option to enable “Original Sound”, High fidelity music mode, Echo cancellation, and Stereo audio are all selected.
3. Deselect Automatically adjust microphone volume to get consistent audio gain throughout your call.
4. Close the window and go into a Zoom call.
5. You should see the Original Sound: Off button appear in the upper-left corner of the call window. When you click on it, it should say Original Sound: On. This instantly gives you better audio quality while you’re on a call.

Related: How to Fix Zoom Audio Issues

How to Improve Your System’s Audio Quality for Better Sound in Zoom

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If you’re using Windows 11, you can improve your system audio quality outside of Zoom. Here’s how to do it.

1. Right-click on the speaker icon in the lower-right corner of your screen.
2. Choose Open Sound settings.
3. Under System > Sound, scroll down to Input.
4. Click on the microphone you’re currently using to go to its Properties.
5. Under System > Sound > Properties, scroll down to Input settings.
6. Under Format, click on the dropdown menu to see your quality options. From among the options, choose the highest Hz rating you can see.
7. Under Input volume, set it to 75. Don’t set the slider to 100, as it might cause audio clipping.

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But, if you’re still on Windows 10, you have to do it a bit differently.

1. Right-click on the Speaker icon in the lower-right corner of your screen.
2. Choose Open Sound settings.
3. Under Sound, scroll down to Input.
4. Under Choose your input device, select your microphone from the dropdown menu.
5. Click on Device properties under the dropdown menu.
6. In the Device properties window, look at the right-hand menu, then click on Additional device properties.
7. A Microphone Properties window will open.
8. Go to the Levels tab.
9. Under Microphone, set the volume to 75. Don’t set it any higher to avoid clipping.
10. Click on the Advanced tab.
11. Under Default Format, click on the dropdown menu and choose the highest possible Hz.
12. Under Exclusive Mode, untick the following options: Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device and Give exclusive mode applications priority. This ensures that third-party software cannot change your settings without your knowledge.
13. Once you’ve made all the changes, click on OK.

These settings changes ensure that you have consistent audio quality across all apps, not just in Zoom. It also means that your audio quality won’t change, even if you reboot your PC.

Transmitting Full HD Video

When presenting a webinar, you want your viewers to see the best possible camera quality. However, Zoom reduces your video quality to save on its server resources and so that your internet connection can cope. But what if bandwidth is not an issue? Here’s how you can get real HD video.

Zoom HD Video Is a Lie

Those who are a bit more tech-savvy may know how to set Zoom’s video quality. You simply go to Video settings > under Camera, you put a check mark under HD. While you see a marked improvement in your video preview, that is not the case for the people looking at you.

That’s because the Zoom app automatically reduces your video output quality from Full HD to 480p or even 360p to save on bandwidth. Here’s what you need to do to transmit real HD video on Zoom.

Related: How to Use Immersive View in Zoom

How to Get Real HD Video in Zoom

This may sound counterintuitive, but you have to turn off your camera and use a different Zoom feature, so your viewers see you in the best quality possible. Here are the step-by-step instructions.

1. Click on the Stop Video icon at the lower part of your Zoom call window. This will turn off your camera.
2. Click on Share Screen.
3. Under the Select a window or an application that you want to share window, click on the Advanced tab.
4. In the Advanced view, choose Content from 2nd Camera.
5. Click on Share.
6. A new full-screen window will show your camera broadcasting in true Full HD quality. If you have multiple cameras attached to your computer, click on Switch Camera in the upper-right corner of the window to cycle through your available cameras.

This tricks Zoom into thinking your primary camera is a document camera. Since document cameras require the best possible quality, so viewers can see the data shown, Zoom transmits the video at the best possible resolution.

Achieving Studio Quality Broadcast in Zoom

These tips and tricks ensure you can get the best possible performance from your gear while you’re using Zoom. You have to note, though, that these features use a lot of bandwidth and require greater computer performance over normal modes.

If you’re not confident your provider can give you a reliable internet connection and your hardware is a bit older, then it might be better to stick to Zoom’s default settings.